Storying against non-human/superhuman narratives: Black youth Afro-futurist counterstories in qualitative research

Abstract

Antiblackness, and the dominant stories it produces about Black humanity, creates distorted images of Black humanness that are used to justify violence against Black youth in schools and society. However, Black youth have different stories to tell about their being in the world that stems directly from their lived experiences and are inherently counter to damaged center narratives intertwined with Black suffering. Using the theoretical framing of BlackCrit and theorizations of Afrofuturism, I share two composite Afro-futurist counterstories developed by Black high school students in a summer writing course, which confront antiblackness and disrupt the ways the regime makes educators complicit in seeing Black youth as non-human/superhuman. The research provides insights into Black youth futurity in relation to schooling in an anti-Black world.

Keywords:

• Afrofuturism
• counterstories
• BlackCrit
• Antiblackness
• literacy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Justin A. Coles

Justin A. Coles, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Social Justice Education in the department of Student Development at the University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education. Within the College, Dr. Coles serves as the Director of Arts, Culture, and Political Engagement at the Center of Racial Justice and Youth Engaged Research (CRJ).